Tilapia and Hushpuppies

Fish Fridays are a tradition here in Milwaukee. We have many famous places to eat fish fry's like Serb Hall. That can be pretty costly. A great inexpensive alternative is Tilapia. It has a mild flavor comparable to catfish and is very inexpensive.

You can either use seasoned  bread crumbs, eggs, and flour to bread the fish or a packaged coating like Magic Bake. Have a plate with plain flour on it and one with the bread crumbs and a bowl with a beaten egg and 1/4 cup milk in it. First dip the fish in flour on both sides, then into the egg and then into the bread crumbs. This will give you a better coating.  Heat the oil until you begin to see ripples. Then add the fist. Depending on the thickness of the fish, you can be eating within 10 minutes. I am using about a inch and  a half of canola oil in the pan. I flipped the fillets over after 5 minutes. The fish is done when it is light brown and flaky. Let drain on paper towels before serving. And season with salt and pepper.

I served the fish with Trisha Yearwoods' Jalapeno hush puppies. The complete recipe can be found on foodnetwork.com. I cut back on the jalapenos and made them a bit bigger but they turned out awesome!

Jalapeno Hush Puppies

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 cup self rising flour
1 whole jalapeno seeded and finely diced
3 TBSP jarred jalapenos chopped
1/3 milk, you may need to add more
2 eggs
salt for seasoning

The batter should not be runny like traditional cornbread batter. It needs to be mixed but will look like a thick batter. Heat about 5 inches of oil in a pot until you see the ripples at the bottom of the pot. Then add the batter by teaspoons full into the hot oil. I used a medium high heat. They need to be turned once and take about 3-5 minutes of cooking time.

Remove the hush puppies to a paper towel and drain. Serve with the fish and enjoy!